My name is Carolina and I am starting my business as an alternative and LGBTQ Wedding Planner in Madrid and Gran Canaria.
Everything bridal related is still quite traditional here, and a lot of people think that getting married means being the center of attention of a very formal event that has nothing to do with them. For most of them the first image that crosses their mind is a Catholic Church Wedding so they kind of get scared off. This makes me sad, because they think they can’t have a special day.
What really gets me excited is the change in their faces when I explain that getting married doesn’t have to be like that.

I believe a wedding is about a couple that love each other, that have a unique relationship and deserve a unique celebration. I ask them what they’re passionate about, how they met, what it is that they reallly love and have in common and start designing from there.

THE STORY:

Rebeca came to Gran Canaria three years ago from Madrid and fell in love with the island.

What was going to be a quiet holiday on the beach turned out to be much more so decided to stay.

She discovered that there was much more than hotels and apartaments in that beautiful island with many other features. Soon she got used to the pleasure of going for a swim in the sea after work and walks under the pine trees during weekends. The local cuisine was an amazing discovery but what really got to her heart was the locals and their character. It seems that some locals got nearer to her heart than others…

Fátima and Rebeca met on the beach. They both would go down for a walk or a run in the evenings and had seen eachother before. Until, one day, Fátima gathered the courage to talk to Rebeca. They have been inseparable ever since that day and woutld still go for walks on the beach, hand in hand now.

Though they have recently moved to Madrid, they both new that they wanted to say “I do” were they had met so they decided to “run away”. They weren’t being selfish, but they felt this was something so personal, so intimate they just didn’t want to share one and other with anyone else on their wedding day, so they eloped to Gran Canaria.

When I started organising this shoot I told my friends I wanted to do it with two girls in Gran Canaria to promote elopements, and that I wanted it be super natural. I didn’t want really skinny models posing because I want potential couples to actually feel it could be them.

To my surprise they were really excited about it and asked me if they could participate. So my models are my friends!!!!

It was really fun do do and I think they did a great job.

I got a professional officiant and, even though there is no video, we actually performed the whole wedding because I really insisted on natural fun pictures. For the ceremony she prepared a “love potion” and to our delight, we had a little visitor. A cat that decided he looked great on camera.

All the suppliers that participated are those I have already worked with and are available for real weddings.